Fourth Amendment Of The United States Constitution

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
The recent capitualtion of the United States House of Representaives to the Bush Administrations demands for TELECOM IMMUNITY in anticipation of the United States Senate following suit shall not stand.
Congress is empowered to pass laws. If they pass a bad law it needs to be repealed. This is bad law and this site seeks to have this law repealed.
Please Read Carte blanche to illegally spy on Americans by Tom Burghardt

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The following press release was sent out by Progressives Against Obama this morning, announcing the formation of a purely progressive opposition to Barack Obama, due to his support for the FISA Amendments Act, faith-based initiatives and other right wing causes.

It’s an important project, given that Republicans have begun accusing progressives, since Barack Obama voted for the FISA Amendments Act, of abandoning their values for the sake of political convenience. Take, for instance, what right wing blogger Right Voice had to say about Democrats and the Constitution yesterday:

“The next time the left begins talking about the “shredding of the Constitution” they would perhaps best be served by taking a good long look inside before casting their dispersions and their judgments. The only thing is that that will not happen because they aren’t interested in it. Rather, what they are interested in is making cheap political points, and playing cheap political games, believing the Constitution only applies when they want to make those points or play those games but not when it applies to anything they believe in.”

See the new line of Republican attacks? Barack Obama has made the entire progressive agenda vulnerable, by making it appear to be insincere. Progressives Against Obama proves that argument wrong. We progressives value the Constitution over politicians – even when the politicians are able to make pretty speeches.

The press release:

“When Barack Obama broke his promise to progressives, and voted for the FISA Amendments Act, it was with the assumption that progressive voters would never abandon the Obama campaign, because they had no alternative. Now a group is organizing disgruntled voters online with the purpose of proving Obama’s assumption to be wrong. Progressives Against Obama have begun to organize online at ProgressivesAgainstObama.com.

The FISA Amendments Act is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, but it’s not the only betrayal of progressive values by Barack Obama. Progressives also object to:

– Obama’s eroding position on ending the American occupation of Iraq
– Obama’s plan to expand Bush’s so-called faith-based initiatives
– Obama’s use of religion as a tool for his presidential campaign
– Obama’s support for liquefied coal and other dirty “clean coal” schemes
– Obama’s advocacy for the death penalty
– Obama’s opposition to gun control
– Obama’s opposition to full marriage equality
– Obama’s use of homophobic preacher Donnie McClurkin to campaign for him
– Obama’s support for Joseph Lieberman against Ned Lamont in the 2006 Democratic primary

Some say that progressive voters should put their concerns about Barack Obama’s embrace of George W. Bush’s politics aside. They say that progressives should help elect Barack Obama, and then pressure him after the election to make sure that he does what we want.

There is an old story about a scorpion who asks a frog for a ride across a river, assuring the frog that he would never sting him, because to do so would be to kill them both. When the frog reaches the other side with the scorpion on his back, the scorpion stings him anyway, because it is in his nature.

Progressives have seen the nature of Barack Obama. They have been stung by him already, and are not willing to carry him to victory just so that they can get stung again. Obama has broken his promises, and he no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Now is the time to put serious pressure on Barack Obama. After the election, progressives will have no leverage. Now is the time to speak out, precisely because it is so inconvenient for Obama’s campaign that we do so.”

31 Responses

Thanks a lot guys. You finally figured out that Obama is a liar. You guys make me sick. You tore down Clinton because she wouldn’t pander to you. You liked the guy who promised everything. If you had just barely scratched the surface you would have realized he was full of it.

If you really care about this now, join PUMA PAC and work to get Clinton nominated at the convention.

If not, you are all just whiney children. As Obama would say, “Where else are you going to go?”.

This life-long Dem will be voting McCain. Fuck all you faux-gressives. You don’t have any credibility left.

Progressives: Face it, you were bamboozled. Not just by Obama, but by the congress elected in 2006. Now you can see that the DNC needs to be remade from the top down. Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid have to go.

I really can’t get on board with “Progressives Against Obama”. Not interested. Despite his failings (and the FISA betrayal is obviously the big one on my mind), I remain an Obama supporter.

Why? Because even given his failings as a true progressive, when stacked up against McCain he greatly deserves both our money and our volunteer time.

Also, a number of the charges against Obama in that list are spurious. His position on Iraq is not eroding – rather, it was never as wholeheartedly anti-war as many of his supporters have wanted to believe. It was and remains, however, totally different than McCain’s position and was also always more pro-withdrawal than Hillary’s.

His faith-based initiative proposal is actually something more like an expansion pre-Bush funding for social services provided by churches (which historically included restrictions on the on ways in which federal money could be used – restrictions that Bush removed and Obama seeks to reinstate). See here.

Similarly, in regard to marriage equality, I’ll happily take a president who wants to undo Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act. It’s an imperfect position but also represents real progress from even a decade ago, when a Democratic president SIGNED the Defense of Marriage Act. The movement for full civil rights for LGBT citizens has a long way to go but has also made significant strides in the last decade. An Obama presidency would make further strides easier.

It is good for you to be here. Those who have been less than adequately represented need a place to go where they don’t have to suffer either “I told you so” or “He’s better than McCain” and “You’re selling out progressivism, if you do not support the one who is selling out progressivism.”

Obama is not a progressive at all. I don’t know what he is, but his radical shifts in policy are scarier than anything McCain can come up with.

Obama will mess up Iraq. He doesn’t have any plans. His only plan is to get elected. I am not going to let the future of my country come down to a crap shoot.

I have never voted for a Republican in my life, but if it is between McCain and Obama, I will choose McCain.

All of the left-wing smear artists who were so rabid in smearing Clinton are now smearing McCain as McSame. McCain is not Bush. McCain is a moderate and reformer(Immigration, campaign Finance, getting rid of earmarks and wastful spending). I do not agree with all of his positions, but he is not a liar like Obama. At least we will know what we are getting.

The Democratic party needs to go down because of their vote stealing and fraud. Do any of you know that Dean’s people were given to Obama after the 2004 election to get his presidential campagin started? Did you know that Obama already had more money than Clinton in 2007. Where did he get it? Not from small donations. AAs didn’t even find him viable then.

This guy was the DNC pick from the beginning. The latest astroturf installation of a corporate candidate.

No way in hell this Dem is going to vote Obama, and I hope anyone who believes in Democracy won’t either. How will we ever have credible elections again if this crap is condoned?

His faith-based initiative proposal is actually something more like an expansion pre-Bush funding for social services provided by churches

You are hillarious. No respecting progressive would put up with this shit. Faith Based Initiatives? Give me a break. Not one liberal/progressive I know didn’t totally scream “Separation of church and state” when Bush rolled out that plan. Now Obama want to take it even further.

The problem is that you cannot trust Obama to change positions. He is a liar, and if you haven’t noticed that yet, you haven’t been paying attention or you’re on the Jim Jones juice.

You also think that he is going to protect the LGBTs.

Similarly, in regard to marriage equality, I’ll happily take a president who wants to undo Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act. It’s an imperfect position but also represents real progress from even a decade ago, when a Democratic president SIGNED the Defense of Marriage Act.

I predict a big 180 on that one. He is going to go after the supposed “Joshua Generation”, so he’s going to have to throw gays under the bus once again. He did it with AAs using Donnie McClurkin and OTis Meeks. I’m sure a little sacrifice to the Evangelicals is in order now.

If I’m right, will you stop supporting him? What would it take for you to stop? What is your pet issue that you just wouldn’t let Obama flip on?

Illinois hates him because he didn’t give shit about them after getting into the senate. When he becomes president he’ll have no problems throwing America under the bus after the IGO’s ass he’ll be kissing by that time. This man has consistenly broken all of his promises and has done absolutely nothing during his short political career. I’m still shocked Americans threw Clinton away for this, but I shouldn’t be surprised. Americans aren’t really know for their intelligence.. Oh well, maybe I should just enjoy the show and watch the US commit a slow suicide.

God, you fools. You goddamned fools. You refused to listen, stabbed the only really good candidate we had in the back repeatedly and then fucked her corpse, and now you’ve made sure the only one left standing is some artifically inflated fluffbunny who pouts and whines when he’s expected to answer more than four questions. Thanks. Thanks a whole hell of a lot. I will never stop resenting the shit out of your goddamned gullible jackasses for this.

Right-wing Republican front group. His two biggest online fluffers were ex-Republicans, Rupert fucking Murdoch just loves him, and his economic guru is frmo the University of Chicago, and you idiots flatter yourselves that YOU can sniff out right-wing neocon nutjobs? You couldn’t find your asses with both hands and a GPS locator.

This country is headed straight down the shitchute and the Democratic party has just been sold lock, stock, and barrel to the filthy-rich now that they’ve sucked the Republican party dry as a bone and killed it … and we have YOU TO THANK FOR IT! Rupert loves you, you gullible fools. Go to hell. Just go to hell, all of you.

I am a lifelong Democrat who has never voted for a Republican and my hope I do not have to break that record in November as I will never vote for Obama. The man is one of the least prepared, unqualified, inexperienced candidates every to grace the American stage.

He is a phony and not to be trusted. The man has no core principles. There are no achievements that one can point to that he has accomplished. Winning a senate race against Alan Keyes is a joke! No competition there.

He has been packaged and sold, signed, sealed and delivered to a thirsting public who has yet to do its homework. They wanted change from the Bush years, we all did, but we were desperate for leadership, not boiled over rhetoric from a Chicago political machine.

In fact, his campaign echoes one we so rabidly opposed in 2000. That of George W. Bush.

I first heard this same joke in the Middle East in 2000. It was about Arabs and Israelis, of course, and the scorpion stung the frog in the middle of the river. The frog trusted the scorpion, you see, because he was counting on the scorpion wanting to survive. By stinging the frog in the middle of the river, the scorpion makes sure they both will die.

The Middle East peace process is far from settled and so is the 2008 election. Obama has stung the ones who were willing to carry him, but he has done it before reaching the safety of the shore.

Janis is just speaking the truth.
Even now, in their disillusion with their “messiah,” these Obots still nurture their conspiracy theories about Clinton and her supporters. We hate to say “I told you so” but, I told you so.
It shouldn’t surprise me that people who would wholeheartedly obey and follow a man with absolutely zero credentials, who never stayed at any job for more than a couple of years, who never stuck around to see what he did not accomplish, who showed up to less than half of his days on the job as state senator and only 143 days as US senator….that all you fools would be suckered into thinking that somehow, this nobody with no accomplishment raises 100 million dollars before any primary vote was even cast because he was a progressive?!?!
Obama is an amoral narcissist with connected friends. HE was the one who benefited from right wing republican strategists who raised money for him. Why has his fundraising dropped so precipitously since February? Why did the republican party raise nearly 100 million since the Democratic party leaders selected Obama? Where did all of Obama’s money go? Maybe Rezko was unable to siphon money to him once the trial started?
We could have had a president that would have gotten things done, that could have solved a lot of problems, who would have worked like a mule for everyone. And you idiots threw it away. Thank you so much for throwing our future away.

Bye the the way,by my math,given Federal Holidays, Congressional resesses, and weekends ,and using Sandra’s claim of ‘only 143 days’ as US senator Obama and the rest of Congress gets to work less than 100 days A YEAR.

1. He changed his Iraq position to advocate escalation there.
2. He suddenly became anti-choice. I am aware of his previous “present” votes while in the Illinois State Senate and of his wishy-washy language recently on “mental distress” as a justification for late-term abortions. I do not like either of these things but neither do they change his current 100% rating from NARAL.
3. If he did a complete 180 on LGBT rights.

A combination of some of these would convince me to cease all further campaign donation/volunteer efforts. I would still vote for Obama, if only as a vote AGAINST McCain.

If all of the above occurred, and Obama began to pledge that he would appoint federal judges modeled on Scalia/Alito/Thomas, I would then sit out the election. My primary concern this election cycle is the judiciary (including but not limited to the Supreme Court) – any Democratic president will appoint demonstrably better judges than any Republican president. Hell even Bill Clinton, who was far from ideal from a progressive POV gave us Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

One more note to Mawm: Please stop using the Kool Aid/Jim Jones thing. It’s pointlessly insulting.

Also, do your research on the faith-based iniatives plan. For an honest, critical discussion of the plan, try reading Pam Spaulding at Pam’s House Blend. Link. It’s hardly a one-sided discussion there. – either for or against. Most of the commenters there agree (even when they still do not support the plan) that Obama’s plan amounts to a slight rebranding of prior federal grant money rules with possibly more help given to small organizations attempting to navigate the grant writing process. See also here for the actual policy proposal.

I’m not terribly interested in this plan, but think don’t think it does any damage. It might actually serve several useful purposes. One would be expanding social services.

Public Service Announcement: You don’t need political analysts; just read the news. Singular lines of news suffice at times. You are now in the post-analytic age. Here is a one-liner from a Yahoo! News piece on the recent passage of the Snoops-R-Us bill in the Senate: “Obama ended up voting for the final bill, as did Specter.”

That one sentence tells you all you need to know about where Obama and most Democrats stand on the issue of civil liberties and what political leaders are not willing to do to protect those liberties. Now, that should be enough to make you withdraw your support from Obama’s presidency — if, that is, you still have illusions about the Democrats in general, and Barak Obama in this round of Anybody-But-Bush/McCain.

“What?” says you, “And let McCain win the election?”

To that it must be said: What on earth is the difference when the Democratic presidential nominee, during the election campaign, votes in the same way as a right-wing Republican not just on any bill, but on a bill curtailing people’s civil liberties?